Anyone who has so much as a passing interest in college basketball knows who Bobby Knight is. He is the former head coach of the US Military Academy and University of Indiana basketball teams and now coaches the Texas Tech Red Raiders. He is the second most successful coach in NCAA Division-1 basketball history with 868 wins, trailing leader Dean Smith by only 11 victories. Knight has led 3 teams to an NCAA Championship (all Indiana) and coached the Michael Jordan-led 1984 Dream Team to an Olympic gold medal. He lead the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers to a unparalleled 32-0 season, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished since. Knight is 1 of only 4 men to have won an NCAA Championship, an NIT Championship, and an Olympic gold medal. Unfortunately, Knight won’t be remembered only for these incredible feats but more for his raging temper.
Coach Knight is, arguably, the most controversial and hot tempered coach in NCAA history. Since his head coaching career began in 1965 at Army he has been accused on assaulting his players on more than one occasion, fined, suspended, arrested, restrained from attacking fans, and dismissed from his job. Knight has been the target of players, fans, women’s rights activists, and even his own staff.
Knight’s behavioral problems first came to a head in 1976 when, after defeating Kentucky in a regular season game, Coach Knight had a heated discussion with Wildcat’s coach and former friend Joe Hall. After the discussion Hall turned to walk back to his bench and Knight slapped him across the back of the head. No charges were ever filed on the incident and the two have since reconciled. In 1976 Knight’s antics came into light again when he was upset because sophomore Jim Wisman had caused 2 turnovers in a game, prompting Knight to jerk him off the floor by his jersey and place him in his seat. After the game Wisman said that his coach was right in his actions but Knight quickly apologized and said he wasn’t.
His first major problem came on September 10, 1979 when he was charged, tried, and convicted of striking a Puerto Rican police officer during practice for the Pan American Games. Bobby Knight was sentenced to six months in jail but had already returned to the United States. The Puerto Rican government tried to extradite the then-Indiana coach for years but finally gave up in 1987. His reception in the US was initially well received, mainly because witness claimed that Knight was provoked before the assault. That support quickly went out the window when he released a number of ill-willed comments about Puerto Rico and its inhabitants. In 1980 Knight fires a blank shot from a track & field starters pistol at Russ Brown, a reporter for the Louisville Courier-Journal. No charges were ever filed on this incident. His reception in the US was initially well received, mainly because witness claimed that Knight was provoked before the assault. That support quickly went out
In 1981 he uses his weekly talk show to show films that allegedly cleared Indiana star Isiah Thomas of throwing a sucker punch at Purdue player Roosevelt Barnes. To the agitation of Purdue fans and officials, Knight proceeded to bring a donkey wearing a Boilermakers cap onto the show, explaining it as the school’s “overall mentality”. He was also involved in an incident with an LSU fan on March 28, 1981 during the Final Four, shoving the man into a trash can. Knight said that the fan had “egged him on” and, once again, no charges were ever filed. Although Knight was quiet the rest of the year he was soon back in the spotlight in January 1982 after Ohio State guard Troy Taylor accused him of calling him “everything in the book” in response to what Knight thought was a flagrant foul from Taylor to Indiana’s Jim Thomas. Four of Knight’s defended their coach and, after sending tapes of the “incident” to both Big Ten officials and to Ohio State University, OSU sided with the Indiana coach as well.
On February 13, 1983 Coach Knight defiantly stood at midcourt and cursed at Big Ten commissioner Wayne Duke and 3 days later accuses him and his officials for “the worst officiating I’ve seen in 12 years”. For the first time in his career, Bobby Knight is publicly reprimanded for his actions. The move seemed to quiet him down for a few years until, on February 3, 1985, Knight commits what will become his most famous outburst ever. In response to what he perceives as a poor call by officials in a game against Purdue, Knight picks up his chair and tosses it across the court while Steve Reid attempts to shoot a freethrow for the Boilermakers. Knight is ejected from the game and Commissioner Duke suspends him for 1 game. Shortly afterword Knight makes a formal apology.
On January 25, 1986 Knight receives his first technical for shouting at officials during a game against Illinois. Knight takes his frustrations out by kicking a megaphone and screaming at the Indiana cheerleaders for disrupting a freethrow by Steve Alford. One year later Knight is given another technical during Indiana’s NCAA tournament game against LSU. The coach proceeds to slam his fists down on the announcer’s table in response, a move that gets the university a $10,000 fine from the NCAA and Coach Knight a reprimand.
On November 22, 1987 Indiana was losing an exhibition game to the Soviet Union with only 15 minutes left to play when Coach Knight got into an argument with referee Jim Burr, a move that gets him thrown out of the game. In response, Knight forces his team to leave with him, not allowing them to finish the game, a move that once again earns him a reprimand from Indiana University. In February of 1988, Knight barely misses out on the Basketball Hall of Fame because of a few votes, something he decrees as a “slap in the face”. On April 25 of that year he conducted an interview with NBC’s Connie Chung. When asked how he handles stress Knight replied with the now legendary quote: “I think that if rape is inevitable, relax and enjoy it.” The comment sparked a protest march through the Indiana campus although Knight maintains that he used the word rape with a different meaning than what was understood.
After a 3-year span of Coach Knight being on his best behavior he begins a public feud with Illinois Coach Lou Henson, who calls Knight “a classic bully” and says he “thrives on attention”. On March 10, 1991 following the Indiana-Illinois game, Coach Knight leaves the court without shaking hands with his opponent. Two months later he asks not to be nominated for the Basketball Hall of Fame a second time. His request isn’t honored, however, and he is enshrined in May 1991.
On May 25, 1992 Knight draws negative media attention from the NAACP and other black leaders when, during practice for the NCAA tournament, he pretends to whip African American player Calbert Cheaney. Cheaney himself says that the actions weren’t racial, that they were just a joke and that the bullwhip used was actually a present from the players themselves. Cheaney had even proceeded to mock-whip Knight with a towel in response. The following year on December 7, Knight pulls his son Pat Knight from the game due to bad performance and appears to kick him in the leg. When the fans behind the bench boo, Knight turns and screams at them. The coach says he kicked the chair under his son, not the player himself but is suspended for 1 game by the university.
Three months later on March 9, 1994 Coach Knight quickly moves in on freshman Sherron Wilkerson during a timeout against Michigan State. In doing so Knight managed to head butt Wilkerson, a move that he claims was an accident. Three days later during Indiana’s Senior Day ceremonies, Knight stands in front of the crowd in attendance and recites the following: “When my time on Earth is gone, and my activities here are past, you can bury me upside down, and my critics can kiss my ass.” The comment draws national attention but neither the university nor the NCAA issues no punishments or reprimands.
In 1995 Knight causes Indiana University to receive a $30,000 fine by the NCAA when, during a news conference for the NCAA tournament, a NCAA media liaison reports that the coach won’t be attending. Coach Knight was actually only running a few minutes late and, when he arrived and was told what the liaison said, he blew into a tirade on the man, cursing at him. Knight is reprimanded by the NCAA and is out of the news until 1998 when he is fined another $10,000 for berating a Big Ten referee for what he calls “the worst officiating he’s seen in his career”. Coach Knight is the recipient of 3 technical fouls and is ejected during the 2nd half of a loss to Illinois.
In 1999 he was investigated for allegedly choking a man at a restaurant who says he heard Coach Knight making racist comments. The prosecutor on the case refuses to file charges, however. On October 12 Knight accidentally shot his friend Thomas Mikunda in the back while grouse hunting, causing non-lethal wounds. He is cited for failing to report an accident and hunting without a license.
In 2000, March 17 through May 14 would prove to be the worst 2 months of the coach’s life. An Indiana University secretary alleged that Knight had thrown a potted plant at her and Assistant Coach Ron Felling is fired after claiming Knight punched him in the chest and kicked him out of a chair after he overhead Felling criticizing the program. Felling filed suit against Knight for assault but the case was settled out of court for $37,000, an amount paid by Indiana University. Indiana University soon afterwords announced that they will be investigating a claim by former player Neil Reed that Coach Knight had choked him during a 1997 practice. In April a videotape was leaked (allegedly by Ron Felling) that supposedly supported Reed’s claim. Claims also followed that Knight had attacked a former IU sports information director.
On May 15, Indiana University President Myles Brand announces that Knight has been fined $30,000 and would be suspended from the first 3 games of the 2000-2001 season. He also announced that Indiana would be operating on a “zero-tolerance” policy in regards to Knight in the future. The coach was barred from having contact with any Indiana player or school official after the investigation found “a pattern of unacceptable behavior”. Anything that the university deemed inappropriate would result in Knight’s immediate termination.
That “inappropriate behavior” would come on September 7, 2000 when Knight grabbed the arm of freshman Kent Harvey and lectured him on respect when he allegedly approached the coach and only addressed him as “Knight”. Two days later Brand announced that Knight would no longer serve as the coach of the school’s basketball program. On March 23, 2001 Knight was signed to be the coach at Texas Tech. No behavior provisions were added to the contract.
His stint at Texas Tech would be marred in controversy almost instantly when the General Manager of the Compaq Center in Houston said that Coach Knight had offered “to fight him” over remarks that were made between the two about the size of the arena’s locker rooms. After that he launched into a profanity laced tirade directed at an ESPN reporter when the reporter asked about Knight’s relationship with former player Steve Alford, who was also participating in the interview. Knight later issued an apology.
In 2004 he was involved in an argument with Texas Tech Chancellor David Smith in a grocery store in Lubbock, Texas. It is unknown what the argument was about and Knight was, once again, reprimanded. This would mark the first, and so far only, disciplinary action taken by Texas Tech. In March of 2006 Knight had to be physically restrained by police officers after a Baylor University student heckled him. This action was not considered severe enough to warrant any action by either Texas Tech or the Big 12 conference.
Coach Knight’s most recent outburst happened on November 13, 2006. He was shown striking Tech player Michael Prince under the chin when the young man was looking at the floor instead of at his coach. Although Knight didn’t issue a comment about the incident, Prince, his mother, and Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Myers have all responded and maintained that Coach Knight didn’t do anything wrong. Prince has gone on record to say that he was being hard on himself and Coach Knight was only trying to get him to play the game without worrying about making mistakes. As of November 15, Texas Tech hasn’t punished or reprimanded Knight for his actions and it’s doubted that they will.
Many critics feel that it’s time for Bobby Knight to retire, citing that he hasn’t been able to control himself throughout his career and it’s time for him to bow out before he completely explodes. He is still a great coach, evident by his record and the fact that he drew the struggling Texas Tech basketball program out of their slump almost immediately. Knight hasn’t announced any plans to retire and, most likely, will take the record for most wins in NCAA history before the next NCAA tournament begins in March. One has to wonder, with his violent temper, how long will it be before Coach Knight does something that the NCAA deems as “too much” and finally bans him from coaching for them again.
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More info on Bobby Knight can be found at: www.fansonly.com. Info on his NCAA record can be found at: www.ncaa.org
